چکیده انگلیسی

We predicted that the perceived likelihood of acquiring a hoped-for thin self would mediate perfectionistic strivings on dietary restraint, and that the perceived likelihood of acquiring a feared fat self would mediate perfectionistic concerns on dietary restraint. We also predicted that the mediation pathway from perfectionistic concerns to dietary restraint would have a greater impact than that from perfectionistic strivings. Participants were 222 female college students who reported their height and weight and completed measures of perfectionism, the likelihood of acquiring the feared fat and hoped-for thin selves, and dietary restraint. Statistical analyses revealed that the perceived likelihood of acquiring the feared fat self mediated both perfectionistic concerns and perfectionistic strivings on dietary restraint, and that the mediating pathway from perfectionistic concerns to dietary restraint was greater than that from perfectionistic strivings. Implications for future research and eating pathology interventions are discussed.

مقدمه انگلیسی

Perfectionism has been implicated in the development and maintenance of female eating pathology (Stice, 2002). Yet, despite this, researchers have pointed to a lack of empirical studies addressing the nature of the mechanisms underpinning perfectionism's links to such pathology (Bardone-Cone et al., 2007). Given the association between eating pathology and frequent dietary restraint, we seek to address this issue by placing the relationship between perfectionism and dietary restraint within a possible selves framework (Ackard et al., 2002 and Markus and Nurius, 1986). More precisely, we examined the mediational role of a hoped-for thin self and a feared fat self in a population where eating disorders and unhealthy dietary restraint are both prevalent and increasing: young college women (Ackard et al., 2002, Cohen and Petrie, 2005 and White et al., 2011).
Perfectionism is a multidimensional personality disposition characterized by a striving for flawlessness, excessive self-criticism, and the setting of extremely high standards (Frost et al., 1990, Hewitt and Flett, 1991 and Stoeber and Otto, 2006). According to recent research perfectionism may also be usefully differentiated into an adaptive dimension, called perfectionistic strivings, and a maladaptive dimension, called perfectionistic concerns ( Stoeber & Otto, 2006). While there is considerable empirical support for the presence of these adaptive and maladaptive forms of perfectionism, it nevertheless appears that, in some contexts, perfectionistic strivings is associated with pathology ( Frost et al., 1990). For example, patients with disordered eating symptomatology tend to score higher not only on measures of perfectionistic concerns but also on measures of perfectionistic strivings ( Bardone-Cone et al., 2007 and Sassaroli et al., 2008).
The finding that clinical levels of dietary restraint can be characterized by high scores on both perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns is consistent with the dual process model of perfectionism (Slade & Owens, 1998). Within this theoretical framework, those higher in perfectionistic strivings are motivated by positive reinforcement and a desire to be successful, while those higher in perfectionistic concerns are motivated by negative reinforcement and a fear of failure (Bergman et al., 2007 and Slade and Owens, 1998). According to the dual process model, therefore, women higher in perfectionistic strivings should engage in dietary restraint in the hope of acquiring the culturally-ascribed rewards associated with a thin self. In contrast, women higher in perfectionistic concerns should engage in dietary restraint because they fear the culturally ascribed negative consequences of acquiring a fat or overweight self (Crandall and Martinez, 1996 and Slade and Owens, 1998).
The dual process model also proposes that the self-concept is central to how perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns impact behaviour (Slade and Owens, 1998 and Slade and Owens, 2008). With this in mind, we propose that possible selves, i.e., the future-oriented aspects of the self-concept that one hopes to become or fears to become, mediate the relationship between these two dimensions of perfectionism and dietary restraint (Markus & Nurius, 1986). Although hoped-for and feared possible selves are important mechanisms between thought and behaviour, their mediational role with regard to perfectionism and dietary restraint remains to be empirically confirmed (Markus and Nurius, 1986 and Oyserman and James, 2011).
Possible selves influence behaviour by serving as reference standards against which the current self is compared (vanDellen & Hoyle, 2008). Building on a recent review by Oyserman and James (2011), as well as contemporary social comparison theory, the motivational impact of such a comparison should, in part, depend on an expectancy judgment about the likelihood of acquiring a possible self (Lockwood & Pinkus, 2007). Thus, with an increasing expectancy of acquiring either a hoped-for thin self or a feared fat self, the greater should be the motivation to engage in dietary restraint. However, assessments of expectancy, as well as the particular reference standard that is the focus of an expectancy assessment, may be influenced by personality disposition (Carver & Scheier, 1998). Accordingly, since perfectionistic strivings is associated with a focus on success and being optimistic about achieving success, and given that western culture equates thinness with success for women, we predicted that an expectancy judgment about the likelihood of acquiring a hoped-for thin self will mediate the impact of perfectionistic strivings on dieting restraint (Bergman et al., 2007, Evans, 2003 and Slade and Owens, 1998). Conversely, because perfectionistic concerns is associated with a focus on anticipating and avoiding negative outcomes, and given that western culture stigmatizes fat bodies for women especially, we predicted that an expectancy judgment about the likelihood of acquiring a feared fat self will mediate the impact of perfectionistic concerns on dietary restraint (Crandall and Martinez, 1996, DiBartolo et al., 2008 and Slade and Owens, 1998).
We also expected a negativity bias with regard to the mediating impact of the feared and hoped-for selves on dietary restraint. Specifically, we predicted that the mediating pathway from perfectionistic concerns will have a significantly greater impact on dietary restraint than the mediating pathway from perfectionistic strivings. Support for this prediction comes from research demonstrating the greater potency of negative information, and negative identities in particular, over positive information on human functioning (Baumeister et al., 2001 and Ogilvie, 1987). Additionally, and consistent with this body of research, Dalley and Buunk (2011) recently reported that the women most motivated to engage in dietary restraint were characterized by having a highly available feared fat self in memory, as well as perceiving a high degree of similarity to this future self.
Finally, we expected that the predicted mediating pathways from perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns, as well as the associated negativity bias, to occur when controlling for body mass index (BMI). We based this expectation on previous research demonstrating that perfectionism exerts its impact on eating pathology regardless of actual body weight (Joiner, Heatherton, Rudd, & Schmidt, 1997).